Just the night before first sitting down for the marathon sitting of Lav Diaz’s entire opus, I had been rewatching the flawed 1995 TV film England, My England, John Osborne’s final work detailing the life of Henry Purcell. It had the feel of a funeral, not just because of the use of Wendy Carlos’s reworking of the immortal Purcell ‘Funeral March of Queen Mary’ for A Clockwork Orange, but in addition to Osborne’s final work it was also the last performance of Robert Stephens as Dryden. So far, so how is this relevant?

And so it was that I took on Diaz’ masterpiece less than 24 hours later. A film that took me through a door that I thought had long closed and untouched since the heyday of Jacques Rivette. There had been long films since, films that would never be seen as commercial propositions, but Diaz was going further than anyone before. None of his films are on DVD, and this one wasn’t even his longest. It’s the only one I have been able to track down at the time of writing and is enough to convince me that he belongs in the higher echelons of cinematic visionaries still working today, with Lynch, Malick, Von Trier, Davies, Tarr, Haneke and Sokurov. All this from a film which could be argued as an oxymoron; the eight hour plea for cinematic minimalism.

Take three characters – a prostitute, a pimp and a nun – who live in the remote small town of Sagada in the Philippines. Their paths intersect at various points prior to their meeting in the ruins of an abandoned building one wet afternoon. What transpires is that these three people actually know each other and are enacting parts, escaping and withdrawing from a world which has become too painful following the assumed death of loved ones. The pimp Danny Boy is really writer Julian, the mastermind of the ‘process’, the prostitute Jenine is really Alberta, widow of a rebel and adopted mother to a girl, Hannah, who is close to falling into her own abyss. The nun is Rina, and she finally cracks, taking her own life and causing the other two to question their own mindsets.

Or that’s one take on it. Leaving aside the surface plot, just take in the detail, the pin-sharp monochrome hi-def photography, the deliberately natural sound which would make some dialogue inaudible but for subtitles, the way Spanish segues into English and back again, often in the same sentence, the way scenes don’t so much end as drift away before stopping abruptly. The camera barely moves, the characters moving slowly in and out of scenes so that the eye becomes quickly accustomed to examining the edges and far off distances of frames for characters or movement. Emotions are banished, exiled from the id, Julian organises sex shows for visiting tourists but the sex is at best mechanical, functionary, even tedious.

Stylistically, it probably owes most to Béla Tarr, while Diaz himself was obviously inspired by Lino Brocka (even the music is done by his own ‘group’, the Brockas). Still, though, we go back to Rivette, that ferryman across the Styx of the id to a Wonderland beyond even Lewis Carroll’s imagination. Diaz’s version is a forbidding place, where characters feel safer in the dark and light scares, where storm clouds, both figuratively and physically, gather overhead like vultures surveying carrion and any form of coping mechanism, or ‘process’ to use the euphemism of choice, is better than living with reality, even screwing men for money. While its creator, Julian, can be seen as a God, a Christ-figure who in one scene looks at first glance like he’s walking on water. The characters, especially in the opening reels, move as if in a trance and, suddenly as if hypnotised, I recall the words of Robert Stephens as Dryden the night before; “our world has disintegrated. We moved as in a dream, shadows without substance. Thus did our life become. ‘Tis all a cheat, yet fooled with hope men favoured the deceit. Trust on, and think tomorrow will repay, tomorrow’s falser than the former day.” Diaz’s film summed up, the sadness of the world as timeless as its joys.

I’ve just touched the surface. Philippines cinema is the next big thing. Let’s all hitch onto the New Wave lead by Diaz, Raya Martin, Khavn, Torres. etc. These are names that we’ll be endlessly seeing in critical circles in this decade.

I am speeding up this #2 selection from Allan at the internet cafe near 21st Street after seeing an excellent short plat “The Shoemaker” starring Danny Aiello, which revolves around the domestic encounters on the afternoon of 9-11.

Well, it is none other than that brilliant Just Another Film Buff, who just weeks ago wrote one of the net’s greatest treatments of a director, and one who is little known:

I am now in possession of this film because of JAFB’s kindness, and in fact I have all of Diaz’s other films as well from the same generous source. The film has resulted in one of Allan’s greatest (and most passionate) reviews, and this is truly a celebration of cinema as an art form. The choice will be startling for many, but as JAFB and Allan have attested, this is indeed a “staggering masterpiece.”

I’ve a vague idea what the #1 could be, but I kind of doubt it. First of all I’m not sure if Allan would like the film (though in a lot of ways it’s right up his alley) second I’m not sure how available it was on the other side of the pond – I only saw it by extreme happenstance. Still, he has his ways. Suffice to say if it was picked I’d be as happy as Bob was with Heaven’s Gate. But I kind of doubt it will be.

Allan, does a film have to be on your timeline to be considered? Or are there movies you’ve seen in the last year or two, or even since the beginning of this year which don’t appear on there but are still eligible? Looks like my flickering flame of hope might be completely extinguished…

Historias Extraordinarias is actually a Mariano Llinas film (from Argentina) – I caught it last year at a festival and was blown away. Let me know what you think when you see it – it might be a little “loose” for your tastes, but it’s also hugely imaginative, and I saw the Rivette connection there too. Can’t wait to catch up with Diaz on you & JAFB’s recommendation, I love a film you can slip into and keep falling, Alice-style down the rabbit hole…

Now this makes it really interesting. If it’s not Jia, it most probably isn’t Hou or Tsai (don’t ask why I said this). It would have to be either Japan or Iran. If it’s Iran it has to be Panahi or Ghobadi. I’d pick CRIMSON GOLD.

Having worked in the past with folks from the Philippines, sadly not one ever mentioned any films ; (

Hopefully they’ll get out on DVD soon, for what you write about sounds interesting enough to view.

BTW, having just seen a new film yesterday at the theater that was 2 1/2 hrs long, too long for what it was, which a little editing could have helped, I’ve always found foreign films and reading captions not really a bother, since they most of the time work without said editing.

Is that actually a line from Dryden or something written for the screenplay? Quite like it either way. However, I would be quite interested in knowing what the underlying work was, if it is the former.

Sounds like a great film. Irrespective of the prominent billing that it gets here, the manner of the review has easily piqued my interest.

no mention of the Who track of the same name (‘Melancholia’) from ‘odds and sods’ expanded cd? it has a great proto-heavy metal riff and some seriously demented shrieks over top of the otherwise instrumental proceedings. Not related to this film sure, but damn is it great.

Your lists always make me feel so stupid. I mean that as a compliment. Thanks for reminding me that there will always be cinema out there to catch up with amidst all of the drek that plagues theaters these days. It’s depressing because the breadth of cinema I haven’t seen (and may never see) is so wide, but it’s encouraging because I know that I’ll never run out of good stuff to track down. Your lists are always a reminder of that fact. I can’t wait to see what number one is.

In all seriousness, Kevin, I’m glad the whole shebang is now all but over. The fact is that lists such as these are contentious and are one person’s opinion, but they take a lot out of me – not the writing, they’re largely already done, though I am still writing all the time – but the knowledge how contentious the placings would be. My canonical is another man’s apocrypha.

I can now relax into just a twice weekly series of rarities and lesser spotlighted films by masters that, while I’m admitting I love, because I’m not placing among any countdown or best of lists but just presenting alone, won’t be contentious, merely informative and eye-opening. That was the real purpose of the countdowns, but it got waylaid a long, long time ago.

I hope you won’t mind me mentioning some of my objections toward this review review here:

1. “the way Spanish segues into English and back again” is not an artistic choice of Diaz! It’s just the way Filipinos speak!

2. A spoiler warning would have been nice before mentioning a major event that is revealed in the sixth hours of the movie. I know lots of people say his movies are resistant to spoilers and I somehow agree as well but still knowing that will diminish the experience of watching it a bit.

3. “sex is at best mechanical, functionary, even tedious” – not an objection, just a personal point of view. I thought the sex was sad instead of mechanical and tedious. The couple clearly loved each other. And I thought the movie was VERY emotional.

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Wonders in the Dark is a blog dedicated to the arts, especially film, theatre and music. An open forum is highly encouraged, as the site proctors are usually ready and able to engage with ongoing conversation.